“Women … Mourn and Men Carry On”: African Women Storying Mourning Practices: A South African Example

Abstract

African mourning of loss of lives in South Africa has been shaped by discursive practices of both traditional African cultures and the sociopolitical developments under apartheid and in post-apartheid South Africa. This article reports on changes in mourning practices on the basis of a literature review and uses a collection of examples to highlight the navigation of some cultural and gendered issues relating to mourning, against the backdrop of the everyday experiences of loss of life in South Africa due to violence and HIV/AIDS. The article draws on African womanist and feminist scholarship and focuses on the intersections between cultural and gender practices of bereavement in the lives of professional urban African women. The authors argue for the use of positioning theory and witnessing practices to honor and story the ongoing struggle of African women as these women take different agentic positions by accepting, questioning, resisting, and/or changing cultural mourning practices while they compassionately witness the self and others in the narratives they live.

Up From the Ashes: Age and Gender Effects on Post-Traumatic Growth in Bereavement

“…Rather, these situational factors, personal resources, and interpersonal resources are directly associated with adaptation to bereavement and may co-vary with age and gender. They are likely to be influenced by gender roles, cultural norms, expressiveness (Hyde, 2014;Jakoby, 2012;Kotzé, Els, & Rajuili-Masilo, 2012), and even the ways in which the tasks of daily living are changed because of the deceased person's absence (Floyd, Mailick Seltzer, Greenberg, & Song, 2013;Stroebe et al, 2006). Thus, although researchers often call for the inclusion of more moderators in bereavement research studies (e.g., Hyde, 2014;Stroebe et al, 2006;Tedeschi et al, 2007), the range of moderators needed is vast.…”

African traditional widowhood rites and their benefits and/or detrimental effects on widows in a context of African Christianity

“…She also has to give way to other road or path users whom she meets when walking in the road or path. Kotzé et al (2012) mention the following:…”

“…In their view (Kotzé et al 2012), these positions have the following implications: Experience of a stressful life due to the customs prescribed by society (B): There is discrimination in the application of these rites and practices (see Manyedi et al 2003:78). In the cleansing process, the widow is expected to, amongst others, take herbs in order to neutralise the bad luck (Manyedi et al 2003:78).…”

“I was forced into it”: The continued violation of widows from the Luo community of Kenya through sexual cleansing rituals

“…Widowhood not only symbolizes the loss of a partner through death but also the departure of a breadwinner and a shift in the woman's lifestyle and social status in the community ( 1 ). In many societies in Africa and Asia, widowhood is considered a bad omen, leading to the social alienation and stigmatization of widows and can be remedied through various rituals ( 2 , 3 ). The widow, and rarely the widower, bears the responsibility to carry out the purification rituals upon the death of the spouse ( 2 , 4 ).…”